The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

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He also rejected Canberra's argument that WA has not done enough on economic reform through privatisation and deregulation.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said WA should stop spending like "drunken sailors" before asking other states for more GST.

Mr Andrews said he was prepared to negotiate with WA Premier Colin Barnett, but he wasn't going to ignore the facts.

"It's a bit rich for us to be asked to turn a blind eye to mining boom one, mining boom two and the budget the WA government is basically running," he told reporters.

Exchanges were equally heated when state and territory treasurers met last week.

One issue that doesn't seem to be on the table is raising the 10 per cent GST itself, or broadening its base to take in fresh food, health and education.

But the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows a steady rise in support for a GST hike among voters, with more than one in three Australians (37 per cent) now supporting an increase compared with just 12 per cent in late 2012.